Our Research

This project is funded by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The Tennessee Institute for Gambling Education & Research—or TIGER—includes the Gambling Lab at the University of Memphis and the PETAL Lab at East Tennessee State University. TIGER’s clinical service division is The Gambling Clinic, which offers outpatient treatment for anyone in Tennessee experiencing problems or harms related to gambling.

Guided by TIGER’s mission of reducing the risk of gambling-related harms for all Tennesseans, our labs explore key questions about prevention and treatment of problem gambling and gambling disorder. For more than 20 years, TIGER has received substantial grant funding from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Additional grant support for specific research projects has been received from other funders, including the International Center for Responsible Gambling. Read more about our labs below. You can read more about TIGER’s clinical service arm, The Gambling Clinic, at its website.

The Gambling Lab

 

The Gambling Lab is housed in the Psychology Department and is led by James P. Whelan, Ph.D., who also serves as Executive Director of TIGER. The Gambling Lab’s current research focuses on treatment for gambling disorder, the interaction of gambling disorder with other mental health conditions (including substance use), responsible gambling (RG), and gambling communications (including RG messaging).

The Gambling Lab engages in collaboration within and beyond the Psychology Department. For instance, current work on gambling communications is in partnership with Ganga Urumutta Hewage, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management and Director of Marketing Research for TIGER. In addition, work on suicide prevention among people with gambling disorder is underway in partnership with M. David Rudd, Ph.D., and the Rudd Institute for Veteran and Military Suicide Prevention in the Psychology Department. Alexandrea Golden, Ph.D., also in the Psychology Department, partners with the Gambling Lab to develop and disseminate prevention programming for adolescents and emerging adults.

Gambling Lab members gather weekly to provide each other with insights and feedback on projects at all stages. Doctoral students and research assistants have access to workspace and resources at the Gambling Lab. Advanced doctoral students in the Gambling Lab typically serve as therapists at The Gambling Clinic. Their clinical experiences often spark questions that they pursue in their research, and their extensive engagement with research on gambling strengthens their work as therapists.

The Gambling Lab does not plan to accept doctoral students for 2026 admission. We do plan to hire at least one post-baccalaureate research assistant who would start in the summer of 2026. If you’re interested in being considered for positions or if you’d like to learn more about the work of the Gambling Lab, you’re invited to contact to Dr. Whelan.

PETAL Lab

The Prevention Education and Treatment of Addiction Learning Lab is within the Psychology Department at East Tennessee State University and led by Dr. Meredith Ginley. The lab aims to improve treatment outcomes for all individuals experiencing behavioral addictions or substance use disorders. Their research focuses on identifying risk and resilience factors and improving the dissemination of evidence-based treatments. Visit their website to learn more!